Barbara Atkinson (née Frajola; born c. 1942) is an American former educator, medical doctor, and university administrator.

[2] After earning her medical degree, she was hired at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she served as an associate professor and director of the cytopathology laboratory from 1978 to 1987.

In 1987, she left to become professor and chair for the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine department at the Medical College of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1996 and later served as the school's dean from 1996 to 1999.

[8] In April 2010, US President Barack Obama appointed Atkinson to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

[11] She was hired to develop and form a new medical school, oversee academic planning, fundraising, and establish a community advisory committee.